190 
RAIL. 
When the reeds are in this state, and even while in blossom, 
the Rail are found to have taken possession of them in great 
numbers. These are generally numerous in proportion to the 
full and promising crop of the former. As you walk along the 
embankment of the river, at this season, you hear them squeak- 
ing in every direction, like young puppies; if a stone be thrown 
among the reeds, there is a general outcry, and a reiterated kuk 
kuk kuk, something like that of a guinea-fowl. Any sudden 
noise, or the discharge of a gun, produces the same effect. In 
the meantime, none are to be seen, unless it be at or near high- 
water; for when the tide is low, they universally secrete them- 
selves among the interstices of the reeds, and you may walk 
past, and even over them, where there are hundreds, without 
seeing a single individual. On their first arrival they are gene- 
rally lean, and unfit for the table; but as the reeds ripen, they 
rapidly fatten, and from the twentieth of September to the 
middle of October are excellent, and eagerly sought after. The 
usual method of shooting them, in this quarter of the country, 
is as follows. The sportsman furnishes himself with a light 
batteau, and a stout experienced boatman, with a pole of twelve 
or fifteen feet long, thickened at the lower end, to prevent it 
from sinking too deep into the mud. About two hours or so 
before high-water, they enter the reeds, and each takes his 
post, the sportsman standing in the bow ready for action, the 
boatman on the stern seat, pushing her steadily through the 
reeds. The Rail generally spring singly, as the boat advances, 
and at a short distance a-head, are instantly shot down, while 
the boatman, keeping his eye on the spot where the bird fell, 
directs the boat forward, and picks it up as the gunner is loading. 
It is also the boatman’s business to keep a sharp look-out, and 
give the word mark, when a Rail springs on either side, without 
being observed by the sportsman, and to note the exact spot 
where it falls, until he has picked it up; for this once lost sight 
of, owing to the sameness in the appearance of the reeds, is 
seldom found again. In this manner the boat moves steadily 
through, and over the reeds, the birds flushing and falling, the 
